Scrums: Calgary byelection politics surface in question period

Last November, the City of Calgary got word that its application for funding from Public Private Partnerships (P3) Canada for partial funding to build four new recreational centres was denied. At the time, Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi noted his disappointment in a blog post, calling the denial “surprising.”

As far as he was concerned, the rules had been changed halfway through the process.

“For two years, we have worked with P3 Canada — in good faith — to secure this source of federal funding for critical community infrastructure projects. One of the reasons we went through this process was because we understood P3 Canada was an independent, merit-based body free from political interference. Had we known otherwise, we may not have chosen to spend $3.1 million to go through the process,” he wrote.

The P3 program, Nenshi wrote, is merit-based “and our project was unanimously approved by their board earlier this year.”

Yet, he continued, “the federal government, including the six Calgary MPs, somehow decided that this project did not meet their criteria which explicitly includes recreation facilities.”

In an update to that post, Nenshi told his readers that “shortly after” his presentation where he spoke to the funding denial (which, the post explained “included a live demo of the PPP Canada website showing where Sports Infrastructure was included as an eligible project”), PPP’s website was changed to remove that reference. His Powerpoint presentation even provided a screenshot of how the site used to look.

In the days that followed, media reported that the head of PPP, Greg Melchin, said the decision to drop the recreational funding from the program had been a federal government one, and didn’t originate with PPP Canada. The department has an independent board, he said, but “fully respect(s) at any time that governments can make decisions that will make people happy and/or sometimes disappoint, in this case,” the CBC reported Melchin as saying.

Fast-forward one year, and Calgary Centre is having a by-election next week. And, if polls are to be trusted, the Liberal candidate, Harvey Locke, isn’t too far away in popularity from the frontrunner, Conservative Joan Crockatt.

Suddenly, a question about P3 funding to Calgary is worthy of a remark in question period from Liberal interim leader Bob Rae, who asked the government Monday why “cabinet changed the rules” for the funding “after the game was over.”

Conservative Minister of State for Finance Ted Menzies, an MP for southern Alberta, seemed amused by the question and stated that, “most of that is factually incorrect.”

The intention of P3 Canada, he said, “was to fund projects such as water and sewer and roads and bridges in this country. That was the original intention. That was the intention all along. We think that is very effective.”

Rae accused the government again of changing the rules – not to mention the website.

“I’m shocked to see the honourable member standing up for my home town of Calgary, Mr. Speaker,” Menzies replied. “Apparently he has actually discovered …” Here, Menzies was cut off by a commotion across the way. The Liberals decided to applaud their interim leader (presumably for standing up for Calgary), and Rae stood up to take a quick bow.

After order was restored, Menzies continued.

“P3 has approved projects all across this country, and it is helping the infrastructure in this country be built by including the private sector in a role that it can play a good part in,” Menzies concluded.

Outside, I put it to Rae that, if one were cynically inclined, one might assume he was only asking about Calgary’s year-old P3 funding denial because there is a byelection next week.

“Oh, you wouldn’t be cynical at all. Of course there’s a byelection on. Heaven forbid we have politics on the floor of the House of Commons,” Rae said. “Of course there are going to be questions about Calgary, questions about Victoria, questions about a lot of things going on in the by-elections. That’s going to happen this week.”

On Twitter Monday afternoon, Mayor Nenshi’s communications advisor, Daorcey Le Bray, confirmed that Calgary has yet to receive any compensation for the $3.1 million it spent applying for P3 funding.